JP3017328B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus having a function of cleaning an ink droplet ejection port.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When fine dust or ink droplets adhere to an ink droplet ejection port of a print head in an ink jet recording apparatus, normal ink droplets are prevented from flying, resulting in poor image quality. In particular, flight becomes impossible. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the ink droplet discharge port clean at all times. At the ink droplet ejection port, liquid dripping from the ink droplet ejection port due to vibration caused by carriage scanning, adhesion of small droplets and mist when flying ink droplets, and attachment of minute dust such as paper powder occur. Since the above-described problem occurs if this is left unattended, it is necessary to periodically perform cleaning of the ink discharge port by a cleaning unit.

Further, if the ink in the ink droplet ejection port is left for a long period of time, the viscosity of the ink rises due to evaporation of the ink. Therefore, when the power switch is turned on, the ink is forcibly discharged by a pump operation. Immediately after this, the ink droplet ejection port is wetted with the ink, so that it is necessary to perform cleaning to maintain the initial state. Conventionally, as a cleaning unit, a cleaning unit using a wiping operation using a rubber blade is generally used. With this method, the ink droplet ejection port can be cleaned to some extent easily. However, there is a case where a sufficient clean surface cannot be surely achieved only by the wiping operation. It was necessary for. In this case, two different operations of the wiping operation and the absorbing operation are required, and there is a disadvantage that the operation mechanism is complicated.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing reliable cleaning by performing an absorption operation following a wiping operation as a cleaning operation. It was made for the purpose of.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink jet recording apparatus having a cleaning means for removing ink and dust attached to an ink droplet discharge port of a print head, wherein the cleaning means comprises the ink.
To perform the movement of contact movement relative to the droplet discharge port
The wiping member and the absorbing member
The member and the absorbing member are in the same state, and
It is held with the absorber placed in the narrowed position,
Relative to the ink drop ejection port
Movement is performed by reciprocation of the print head carriage.
Is executed, and most of the inflow is performed by the wiping operation by the wiping member.
By the absorbing member following the wiping operation.
Absorption operation to remove minute residual ink is a single movement operation
It is characterized by being executed by: Less than,
A description will be given based on an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are structural views for explaining an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view, and FIG. 2 is a partial plan view. In the figure, 1 is a head carriage, 2 is an ink supply unit (main ink tank), 3 is a recording paper, 4 is a cleaning unit, 4a and 4b are wiping members, 4c is an absorbing member, 5 is a base, and 6 is paper feed. Rollers, 6a and 6b are paper guides, 7a and 7
b is a carriage guide, 8 is a carriage drive head, 9
Denotes a motor pulley, 10 denotes a carriage drive motor, and 11 denotes a print head unit.

The head carriage 1 is reciprocally driven in the direction of arrow A by the carriage drive motor 10, and the recording paper 3 is conveyed in the direction of arrow B. When the head carriage 1 scans, the nozzles mounted on the head carriage 1 The printing is performed on the recording paper 3 by flying the ink droplets. In the inkjet recording apparatus as described above,
In order to eject ink with high accuracy, it is necessary to prevent air bubbles from being mixed into the ink flow path in the print head. Further, drying of the ink in the nozzles, paper dust, and the like may cause solidification in the ink and cause clogging of the nozzles, and it is necessary to prevent the removal or generation of these impurities. For this purpose, a cleaning unit is provided which performs an operation of making contact and movement relative to the ink droplet ejection port of the head carriage 1.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views of the cleaning operation of the cleaning unit for the print head unit. In the cleaning operation, the blade-shaped wiping members 4a, 4b, and the absorbing member 4c come into contact with the ink droplet ejection port 12 of the printing head unit 11 by the reciprocating operation of the head carriage 1 to perform cleaning. In this embodiment, the absorbing member 4c has two wiping members 4a, 4b.
It is located between.

[0009] When the head carriage 1 moves A ₁ direction, only by the absorption member 4c which most of the adherent ink and dust of the ink droplet discharge port portion 12 is removed by the left of the wiping member 4b initially placed in the center Absorbs the remaining ink completely. The amount of ink absorbed by the absorbing member 4c is very small since it is only the remaining amount of the wiping member 4b, and does not affect the absorbing performance even if the operation is repeated. Figure (b) shows a time of reverse, i.e. A ₂ direction of the scan. The wiping members 4a, 4b,
Although each of the absorbing members 4c is a single blade, these may be configured as a plurality of blades.

FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of the cleaning operation according to the present invention. When the head carriage 1 is at the cleaning position (outside the printing area), the ink droplet ejection port 12 is moved by the cleaning unit 4. Clean. The cleaning unit 4 performs cleaning by operating from the upper side to the lower side, and at this time, following the operation of the wiping members 4a and 4b, the absorbing member 4c.
Is performed. As the wiping members 4a and 4b, soft rubber such as silicon rubber, fluoro rubber, chloroprene rubber, or the like is suitable, the thickness is 0.1 mm to 1 mm, and the contact length is 0.5 mm.
２2 mm, and the amount of member to be attached is suitably about 1 mm〜１０10 mm. As the absorbing member 4c, a foam having absorbency is preferable (for example, polyurethane foam manufactured by Toyo Polymer Co., Ltd .:
Rubicell, etc.), its thickness is 1mm ~ 3mm, contact length is 0.5m
It is suitable that the length of the member is about 1 mm to 10 mm. Note that the wiping members 4a and 4b and the absorbing member 4c may be configured as a plurality of blades, as in FIG.

[0011]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, since the absorbing operation is performed following the wiping operation as the cleaning operation, the cleaning can be surely performed. Further, most of the ink can be removed by the wiping operation, and the absorption operation is only absorption of fine ink, so that the amount of ink absorbed by the absorption member is reduced, and the operable life of the absorption member is greatly extended. Further, since the cleaning can be performed by a single operation, the cleaning is performed by a simple method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a cleaning operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the cleaning operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Head carriage, 2 ... Ink supply unit (main ink tank), 3 ... Recording paper, 4 ... Cleaning unit, 4a, 4b ... Wiping member, 4c ... Absorbing member, 5 ... Base, 6 ... Paper feed roller, 6a , 6b… paper guide, 7a, 7
b: carriage guide, 8: carriage drive head, 9
... Motor pulley, 10 ... Carriage drive motor, 11 ...
Print head unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/165 B41J 2/18 B41J 2/185

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ink jet recording apparatus has a cleaning means for removing ink and dust adhering to said ink droplet ejection port of said print head.
The wiping member is constituted by a wiping member and an absorbing member that function by performing a relative movement with respect to the ink droplet ejection port portion, and the wiping member and the absorbing member are in the same state,
And the absorbing member is arranged at a position narrowed by a plurality of wiping members.
The ink droplet ejection port.
The relative movement of the printing means
Tsu is performed by the reciprocating operation of the di-, payment by the wiping member
To remove most of the ink in the wiping operation, continued pull on the wiping operation
An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by performing the absorption operation to remove the Ku small residual ink by the absorbing member by the operation of a single movement.